posted at 6:36 pm on September 21, 2012 by Allahpundit

I don’t want to inch too far out on the limb here, but I’m starting to suspect that this was preplanned.

U.S. intelligence indicates that 50 or more people, many of them masked, were responsible for the Sept. 11 assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Gun trucks provided added firepower. The attackers set up a perimeter, controlling access in and out of the compound. A first wave of attacks sent the Americans fleeing to a fallback building, where a second group of extremists beset them with precise mortar fire.

Intelligence reports were still coming in, but officials told The Associated Press that what may have initially seemed like a protest over an anti-Islam movie that had spun out of control now showed the hallmarks of a more sophisticated operation.

In a country coming off a civil war, a level of battlefield savvy does not prove the attack on the compound was planned well in advance. How much planning went into the operation and whether it could have been detected or prevented remain unanswered questions, officials said.

I’ve made this point before, but the debate we’re mired in over how “preplanned” the operation was is so stupid that it’s worth making again. Isn’t it more damning of the administration if the attack was planned in a few hours rather than a few weeks? If your consulate is smack dab in the middle of an area that’s teeming with jihadist groups that are heavily armed, battle-seasoned, and able to operate with impunity thanks to a barely functioning central government, then it’s incumbent upon the State Department to provide strong security at the consulate. You can’t rely on U.S. intelligence to detect and disrupt a plot in advance, since there are too many militias to keep close tabs on and there won’t necessarily be much “advance” time. You need armed troops prepared for the worst already in place. What did we get instead? Ask the Wall Street Journal:

U.S. officials issued alerts and ordered security precautions in neighboring Egypt ahead of protests and violence on Sept. 11, but largely overlooked the possibility of trouble at other diplomatic postings in the region.

The State Department chose to maintain only limited security in Benghazi, Libya, despite months of sporadic attacks there on U.S. and other Western missions. And while the U.S. said it would ask Libya to boost security there, it did so just once, for a one-week period in June, according to Libyan officials.

The U.S. didn’t seriously consider sending in the military during the attack. It summoned rapid-response teams of Marines only after the U.S. ambassador was dead. State Department officials said they doubted the Pentagon could have mobilized a rescue force quickly enough to make a difference during the fighting. The Pentagon waited for guidance from State, which is responsible for diplomatic security, a senior military official said…

The apparent lapses extended to firefighting equipment. Rescue attempts at the main building were thwarted in part by the absence of smoke-protection masks and fire extinguishers, said Libyan guards.

To repeat: Insofar as some sort of sophisticated attack on the consulate was foreseeable from the day the building opened, it was “preplanned” — and yet, presumably to keep a “light footprint” in the area and not antagonize local jihadists with an American “occupation” presence, Chris Stevens was left essentially defenseless. The Libyans who own the villa rented by U.S. diplomats told Reuters they were shocked to see how few precautions were taken, basically nothing beyond the kind of security cameras and barbed wire that middle-class Benghazians already use. There weren’t even concentric rings of security to defend the building if/when the outer wall was first breached.

Here’s House Armed Services Committee chair Buck McKeon tenderly noting, “You hate to think that the president would purposely mislead the American people, but it sure looks like it to me.” Exit question: Has anyone come up with a solid explanation yet for how this militia knew Stevens was at the consulate that night? He wasn’t based in Benghazi, remember; the embassy is in Tripoli. He was there temporarily, and yet somehow the local jihadis caught him at just the right moment. Amazing how they managed to put together a “spontaneous” attack on a night when Stevens just happened to be in town, huh?

About 100 attackers carried out a “coordinated assault” last week on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, intelligence sources tell Fox News, further discrediting earlier Obama administration claims that the deadly attack was a “spontaneous” outburst in response to an anti-Islam film.

Fox News’ sources say the attack came in two waves and involved rocket-propelled grenades, as well as mortar fire, and both the consulate and safe house were attacked seemingly with inside knowledge.

Libyan officials are now “absolutely convinced” the attack was preplanned, sources say, adding to recent indications that Al Qaeda was involved, specifically a former Guantanamo detainee named Sufyan Ben Qumu.

It’s as self-serving for Libyan officials to believe it was preplanned as it is for U.S. intel to believe it was spontaneous, as it slightly mitigates their failure to defend the consulate. But the facts sure are on their side. A hundred attackers, in two separate waves? Sounds like the only thing that was “spontaneous” about this was the tip they got from inside the consulate that Stevens was in the building.

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Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC): Mr. Speaker, today I had the privilege and honor to visit Walter Reed Hospital to say thank you to our wounded from Afghanistan and Iraq, and I saw those who have lost both arms and legs. It’s just so sad to go there.

That brings me today to the floor to thank the chairman of the Armed Services Appropriations Committee, C.W. ‘‘Bill’’ Young (R-FL), who has come out and said it’s time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan, and I quote:

I think we should remove ourselves from Afghanistan as quickly as we can.

Mr. Speaker, that brings me to a couple of comments. I called a former commandant of the Marine Corps 3 years ago and asked him to advise me on Afghanistan, and he has, and he has been very loyal. I want to read his comments:

“I am more convinced than ever that we need to get out of Afghanistan. When our ‘‘friends’’ turn out to be our ‘‘enemy,’’ it is time to pull the plug. We are now nothing more than a recruiting poster for every malcontent in the Middle East. We need to wake up.”

I would say to the Speaker, I would say to the leadership of the Republican Party, join us in bringing our troops home in the year 2013. No more should die for a lost cause like Afghanistan.

General Allen here all you disrespecters of the Great Religion of Peace. These fine well meaning upstanding Muslims were just stressed out from not being able to eat during the day during Ramadan.

Attention!!! General Petraeus here. I condemn the action of the individual in the United States who made a film disrespecting the Great Prophet Mohammad. That action was hateful. It was intolerant, and it was extremely disrespectful. I condemn the actions of a small number of individuals who have been extremely disrespectful to the Holy Qur’an. Together with our Muslim Partners in Peace, we must secure and serve the people of the Muslim world.

General Casey here! Stand at attention! No mater how tragic the untimely death of a few Americans might be to some, abroad or at home, we must not let this affect the diversity of those who watch our embassies and our schools, as if we did, that would be a much greater tragedy.

but the debate we’re mired in over how “preplanned” the operation was is so stupid that it’s worth making again. Isn’t it more damning of the administration if the attack was planned in a few hours rather than a few weeks?

So who’s the mole? Presumably we don’t give the Libyan government months of the ambassador’s itinerary, more likely just a few days. So if they had weeks to plan, that’s just too awful to think about.

The legacy media is putting their candidate above the safety of the American people…

d1carter on September 21, 2012 at 6:44 PM

~~~~~~

Exactly. My God, whenever I think it can’t get any worse, it gets worse…and to think, this treasonous media WANTS HIM RE-ELECTED!! So, I take it terrorist attacks are now part of the “new normal”?? God help us if he gets another 4 years.

The admin should be hammered for this cover-up. Shameful at best, criminal at worst.

Jackalope on September 21, 2012 at 6:42 PM

Damn right. I’d go further and state that Obozo, through his crony Susan Rice during this past Sunday’s talk shows, perpetrated a BALD-FACED LIE to the American people. We have a right to know what the facts are when American lives have been lost, and here is the Obozo Administration engaging in intentional misinformation in just such an instance to throw us off in a failed attempt to hide his incompetency.

Islam brings hope and comfort to millions of people in my country, and to more than a billion people worldwide. Ramadan is also an occasion to remember that Islam gave birth to a rich civilization of learning that has benefited mankind. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to people. It inspires them to lead lives based on honesty, and justice, and compassion. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. It’s a faith that has made brothers and sisters of every race. It’s a faith based upon love, not hate. Mohammad’s word has guided billions of believers across the centuries, and those believers built a culture of learning and literature and science. All the world continues to benefit from this faith and its achievements. The Islam that we know is a faith devoted to the worship of one God, as revealed through The Holy Qur’an. It teaches the value and the importance of charity, mercy, and peace.

Democrat views:
Mitt paid too much in taxes. He’s obviously not qualified to be president.
Obama admin failed to protect embassy, resulting in deaths of 4 Americans. Not O’s problem…It was the video’s fault.

If your consulate is smack dab in the middle of an area that’s teeming with jihadist groups that are heavily armed, (with most likely U.S. supplied weapons), battle-seasoned, and able to operate with impunity thanks to a barely functioning central government, then it’s incumbent upon the State Department to provide strong security at the consulate.

The skill of these fifty men is all the more remarkable considering that they had no time–none–to plan this operation and put it together, owing to its completely spontaneous nature.

/s

MidniteRambler on September 21, 2012 at 6:42 PM

compound that with the probability most were suffering from Global Warming Ramadan Fast syndrome and that their eyes were full of tears over the movie trailers atrocity on Islam…….it is indeed a miracle of non planning.

If your consulate is smack dab in the middle of an area that’s teeming with jihadist groups that are heavily armed, battle-seasoned, and able to operate with impunity thanks to a barely functioning central government, then it’s incumbent upon the State Department to provide strong security at the consulate.

If your consulate is smack dab in the middle of an area that’s teeming with jihadist groups that are heavily armed, battle-seasoned, and able to operate with impunity it’s incumbent upon the State Department to question the wisdom of having a conulate in that location. Let’s remember that conulates are branch offices of the embassy. What good or necessary works were being done at Benghazi to justify this outpost?

Was the whole purpose of this facility to provide a cover and base of operations for intelligence-gathering by one of the alphabet agencies? Was that why two SEALs were there employed by some shadow arrangement? And for that matter what exactly was the ambassador doing there on 9/11/12 in the first place, that is still unclear.

Seriously, the more we “know” about this story the less it all makes sense as laid out by this administration.

George W. Bush is the polar opposite of John Quincy Adams and Winston Churchill. That son of a #itch got all this started and now Obama is carrying the touch to new heights for him.

VorDaj on September 21, 2012 at 7:01 PM

Wait. Are you blaming Bush for this? This started many years ago, before John Quincy Adams and Winston Churchill’s time as well. Clinton did nothing about 1993, 1996, 1998, and 2000. In 2001, when we were attacked on our soil, Bush did something about it.
Obama and Clinton, the one carrying Bill’s balls in her pocket book, are apologizing. I don’t remember Bush apologizing.

It is my opinion/advice that the liberal media should consider “cutting its losses” in the investment of Barack Obama, before they also lose what little credibility they have left. Covering up the disastrous events that took place in Benghazi, (a murderous planned terrorist attack), by publishing the White House narrative, (now outright lies) that a 14 minute video was the cause of this tragic loss of American Patriots, is one of the single most embarrassing exploits EVER ATTEMPTED by this media. In this act alone, they should be admonished and scorned for printing these fallacies. There is no excuse for this shameless act in the name of journalism…….or protecting an unworthy investment.

Adding to this, Sect. of State Hillary Clinton and her surrogate Susan Rice should resign immediately.

The attacks themselves. The murder of Stevens and the ex-SEAL who took the kill-shot on the Somali pirates who were deliberately expose as sitting ducks. The video supposedly made by the Coptic man who had previously been an informant for the Feds. The White House talking points mirrored exactly by the entire State Media from day one, minute one.

Seriously, the more we “know” about this story the less it all makes sense as laid out by this administration.

Happy Nomad on September 21, 2012 at 7:09 PM

Yup!

I’ve tried looking into the late Ambassador’s background and am drawing blanks. I can get a razor thin bio, repeated ad nauseum… but as for actual ‘what did he do in his life to deserve this position’ sort of thing? Still looking.

Thanks for posting the link. I just saw that article, and was about to post the link on this thread.

Barack Obama knew about the Benghazi Consulate terror attacks three hours after they began. The attack took place in two waves at the consulate for several hours. Libyan “looters” found the body of Ambassador Chris Stevens hours after the attack began.
Obama went to bed without knowing the status of the US Ambassador.

He sure did. He became Mohammad’s and Islam’s biggest propaganda minister to pull the wool over American’s eyes. And in his big lies he outdid even Goebbels. Or maybe you agree with what Bush said.

Islam brings hope and comfort to millions of people in my country, and to more than a billion people worldwide. Ramadan is also an occasion to remember that Islam gave birth to a rich civilization of learning that has benefited mankind. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to people. It inspires them to lead lives based on honesty, and justice, and compassion. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. It’s a faith that has made brothers and sisters of every race. It’s a faith based upon love, not hate. Mohammad’s word has guided billions of believers across the centuries, and those believers built a culture of learning and literature and science. All the world continues to benefit from this faith and its achievements. The Islam that we know is a faith devoted to the worship of one God, as revealed through The Holy Qur’an. It teaches the value and the importance of charity, mercy, and peace.

I’ve tried looking into the late Ambassador’s background and am drawing blanks. I can get a razor thin bio, repeated ad nauseum… but as for actual ‘what did he do in his life to deserve this position’ sort of thing? Still looking.

Total repudiation of Obama’s foreign policy and his increassing smallness in front of our enemies, irrespective of traveling to Cairo, speaking favorably of Islam, Kow towing to the Saudi King and blaming and apologizing for the previous administration and parochialness.

We need more commercials emphasizing that the administration is also a victim by evils of unregulated free speech.

Exit question: Has anyone come up with a solid explanation yet for how this militia knew Stevens was at the consulate that night?

Umm… Occam’s Razor: somebody dimed him out.

Hayabusa on September 21, 2012 at 6:44 PM

Stevens was in Benghazi for an afternoon meeting with Lybians on something to do with oil production and exporting.

Ex-military big on Fox News a couple of days ago also claimed that the meeting itself was part of a setup. If not that, then certainly quite a few people in Lybia’s oil business would have known of the meeting and could have leaked or been part-time islamists themselves.

Barack Obama knew about the Benghazi Consulate terror attacks three hours after they began. The attack took place in two waves at the consulate for several hours. Libyan “looters” found the body of Ambassador Chris Stevens hours after the attack began.
Obama went to bed without knowing the status of the US Ambassador.

And he woke up and began immediately to deflect attention towards Romney (‘shoot first, aim later’) and the video. The level of irresponsibility/recklessness, plus blame shifting is staggering. And of course, our media fell for it.

I’ve tried looking into the late Ambassador’s background and am drawing blanks. I can get a razor thin bio, repeated ad nauseum… but as for actual ‘what did he do in his life to deserve this position’ sort of thing? Still looking.

Something just isn’t right here. Big time.

ajacksonian on September 21, 2012 at 7:13 PM

It isn’t going to be all that unusual that career diplomats have razor thin bios. Particularly, as some reports suggest, he was also a homosexual. What I find more unique is that he apparently was able to stay in one region of the world for his career. Every Foreign Service Officer I know rotates around to prevent them “going native” and becoming more sympathetic to the locals than to American interests. One individual I knew went from working in Columbia to working in Estonia with just a few months of orientation in DC.

But IMO it really isn’t about Ambassador Stevens. It is all about why exactly we had a consulate in Benghazi. That’s the largest part that doesn’t make sense.

To be fair to a Gentleman of with class, W didn’t write this, W didn’t know his Islam from his elbow. Some smiling Muslim mushroom just popped up and wrote it for him and no one around him knew enough to understand it. I tell ya, if the Saudis hadn’t supplied W and the team with a trained Muslim staff, this war on terror tactics could go one for years longer than it will. Well, that’s what the Saudis said.

He sure did. He became Mohammad’s and Islam’s biggest propaganda minister to pull the wool over American’s eyes. And in his big lies he outdid even Goebbels. Or maybe you agree with what Bush said.

Islam brings hope and comfort to millions of people in my country, and to more than a billion people worldwide. Ramadan is also an occasion to remember that Islam gave birth to a rich civilization of learning that has benefited mankind. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to people. It inspires them to lead lives based on honesty, and justice, and compassion. Islam is a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. It’s a faith that has made brothers and sisters of every race. It’s a faith based upon love, not hate. Mohammad’s word has guided billions of believers across the centuries, and those believers built a culture of learning and literature and science. All the world continues to benefit from this faith and its achievements. The Islam that we know is a faith devoted to the worship of one God, as revealed through The Holy Qur’an. It teaches the value and the importance of charity, mercy, and peace.

George W. Bush !!!

VorDaj on September 21, 2012 at 7:17 PM

I see what you’re doing here, and I hate myself for saying this, but not all Muslims are like the crazy wild eyed jihadis who fight over firsts with the virgin goat when they’re not rioting and burning down their own village because of some perceived slight.

Oh, I don’t suppose these might be the same guys that we and NATO got in there and supported?

So we’re suppose to believe that the Libyan people just spontaneously rose up just like in Syria and elsewhere, and Al-Qaeda had nothing to do with it? And our government has nothing to do with supporting Al-Qaeda?

It is my opinion/advice that the liberal media should consider “cutting its losses” in the investment of Barack Obama, before they also lose what little credibility they have left. Covering up the disastrous events that took place in Benghazi, (a murderous planned terrorist attack), by publishing the White House narrative, (now outright lies) that a 14 minute video was the cause of this tragic loss of American Patriots, is one of the single most embarrassing exploits EVER ATTEMPTED by this media. In this act alone, they should be admonished and scorned for printing these fallacies. There is no excuse for this shameless act in the name of journalism…….or protecting an unworthy investment.

Adding to this, Sect. of State Hillary Clinton and her surrogate Susan Rice should resign immediately.

Rovin on September 21, 2012 at 7:10 PM

~~~~~

Great post and I agree with everything you said except for the media cutting their losses…IMO, it’s too late for that. The MSM is done in this country…much as our Dear Leader wanted to fundamentally change America, the media needs fundamental change, and that includes Fox news, who were STILL harping on this stupid sham of a movie long after it had been proven to be a huge red herring. We can not be a free country without a free media.

Is America even awake… the polls don’t suggest so. Obama is a failure on so many levels. If he wins we will see war and no not lob a missile war.

CW on September 21, 2012 at 7:02 PM

Somehow, Obama thrives on failure. For at least 40% of the people in this country, there is no line that Obama could cross that would turn them against him. If he’s re-elected, how long will it be before there’s a movement to repeal the 22nd amendment?

The way I heard it they were part of a portable-SAM recover and destroy mission.

slickwillie2001 on September 21, 2012 at 7:25 PM

I believe this is right. I’ve tried to find the ABC story but can’t right now. The report said the one of the SEALS had earlier told ABC News that he was there to find SAM’s. He had nothing to do with the security detail but obviously fought to his death.

Were the weapons used against our Ambassador and the other Americans killed supplied by the Obama administration?

Fallon on September 21, 2012 at 7:22 PM

Fast and Furious II
?????

Nah, From what I saw they were Russian bloc RPGs, AKs and a light machinegun that I couldn’t quite identify.

Although they may have been used to PROTECT the heavier American Supplied Weapons. Maybe the Ambassador wasn’t even the primary target. It might have been the ”ex’ SEAL operatives that were supposedly there to track / recover / destroy them.

But IMO it really isn’t about Ambassador Stevens. It is all about why exactly we had a consulate in Benghazi. That’s the largest part that doesn’t make sense.

Happy Nomad on September 21, 2012 at 7:24 PM

When did he join the State Dept? He was a lawyer in DC at least until 1991… but what firm did he work for? Or, if he was on his lonesome, who were his clients? Why no praise from them? Or plaudits for work he did?

It isn’t just a razor thin bio… it is a blank wall.

And Ambassadors usually get a bit more than a razor thin bio to explain just how much the Administration wants them in that job… it could be a political pay off. Or because he was a really swell guy deserving a raise from some desk job in State. But a Peace Corps stint and then a no-background time as a lawyer? What was his unique capability that got him, a gay man in a country where Islamic jihadis who don’t mind offing gay people, in this unique position. If he was a specialist, then he should have KNOWN BETTER. Of course it would help if we knew WHAT his specialization was… but you can’t get that from a razor thin bio.

This makes no sense, at all.

Not one bit of it.

Save that we have a dead Ambassador assassinated in an act of war against us, and no idea who the man really was. It’s like he was sacrificed to enrage the Nation, or appease Islamists, or just because he wasn’t useful any more. Or all three, simultaneously.

Until we can get the background on John Christopher Stephens (and that was how his name was spelled in his bio unless someone at State has changed it) we can’t know much more about his assassination beyond it being an act of war and an act of negligence by the State Dept., the Secretary of State and the President who went to BED after being informed the attack was happening.

This is a whole catch of rotten fish. Something is distinctly, and horrifically bad here.

The way I heard it they were part of a portable-SAM recover and destroy mission.
slickwillie2001 on September 21, 2012 at 7:25 PM

I believe this is right. I’ve tried to find the ABC story but can’t right now. The report said the one of the SEALS had earlier told ABC News that he was there to find SAM’s. He had nothing to do with the security detail but obviously fought to his death.
d1carter on September 21, 2012 at 7:31 PM

You might check Glenn Beck’s site, he’s played that news clip on his radio show.